Main menu

Post navigation

Inhale

I have to stop writing long enough to get below this surface scratch. Last night I kept waking up to words forming in the darkness. Isolate words hanging on thin strands. That’s what I kept saying to myself.

This morning I was back to counting breaths on the frozen trail. Minus twenty with windchill. The older gentleman who lives at the trailhead was on the road and asked if I saw many rabbit tracks. No. But a big red fox on the ice.

Just before Christmas I picked up a hitchhiker. He wore black ceremonial pants, carried three bags of laundry and spoke of his people. He was going to the bank to cash his food allowance cheque. For thirty minutes in a clear, casual voice he spoke and I listened. One story after another. He told me more than I could write. Though I tried. And tried. Until I stopped.

Touching imagery throughout Chris —
Glad the fox you saw was alive — on the way back fromn Halifax today we saw one in the ditch but quite dead — probably hit by a car —
Two crows were having a meal on the poor animal —
I felt sad —-

Thanks Al. I’ve seen fox more than once on the ice there. Always a shame (and bit of a surprise) to see one on the side of the road. The crows seem to fit the cycle much better than the speeding car or truck that will have swept the life (perhaps without so much as a pause).

Hmmm. I’m curious about that… maybe hopeful(?). These days writing is a real struggle for me. Self-inflicted as I resist and try to find a balance between a head full of words and inspiration that comes mostly from quiet observation. I wonder where it will go. Thanks Michele ~ and happy new year!

I think i know what you mean. Trying to express the wordless with words is a conundrum I’ve struggled with also. Sometimes is seems like a pointless exercise- better just to be still and silent. Other times it seems imperative to try! I haven’t found an answer to this, but I’ve noticed that the deeper into silence I go I find less words but more meaning. Tricky for a writer!

I think you see exactly what I mean (which is really great, and so appreciated). I’m actually “trying” not to write. Putting distance between myself and the words. In some respects reclaiming the quiet walk and space… but…